


A Dark Reflection

by RagingHeart



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye, markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Magic, Septiplier - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 05:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19387876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RagingHeart/pseuds/RagingHeart
Summary: In a world where humans struggle for survival against dark manifestations of humanity, magic users are far and few in between. That is until recent decades, introducing Magitech Units or µ's for short, humans infused with magic from a young age. Mark, µ14M, is a regular µ unit, but his world is turned upside down on a rescue mission for his friends Ethan, µ21E, and Tyler, as he comes face to face with his own shadow, Dark. Along the way, Mark and Jack find a deeper connection.





	A Dark Reflection

**Author's Note:**

> The time format on their devices is in MMDD-HHMM, meaning 0316-1415 would translate to the March 16th, 2:15PM.  
> I just like archaic militaristic values lmao

_Humanity had all but fallen with the arrival of the shades, demonic entities that manifested from a combination of the worlds aetherflow and the despair wrought on one another. Curious magical entities existed before that, but none had malicious intent. Human users of magic were few and far between, and most wielders of the arcane became powerful and rich individuals. They often waged war with their abilities, or were used as tools of war. It’s been theorized that this was the start of the manifestation of shades._

_Shades are not only able to manifest spontaneously, but are also able to create a new shade from a person’s anger, sadness, or other consuming emotions. They often resemble the person they manifested from, although are often not found anywhere near the location of the original individual. They were an anomaly initially, but quickly grew into a monstrous force that leveled civilizations easily. In addition to their powerful arcane abilities, they possess the unique ability to utilize a human’s life force. Shades have an innate desire to create disorder, which often manifests in cycles of destruction. They heed little of other life on Earth as well, and don’t need physical sustenance to survive. Once one is brought into the world, the only way to remove one is to kill it. Most are affected by physical means, but magic is a far more potent weapon against them, but users of magic are few and far between._

_The remaining sliver of humanity hide in fear of the shades, along with other creatures that have spawned in the wake of destruction. There, they survived and continued living, slowly etching out a living. Hidden settlements are protected by Magi, humans capable of magic. Soldiers still exist, but are generally dispatched for smaller damnations. Each Magus’ magical ability varies greatly, but many have learned to band together to cover for each other’s weaknesses, in addition to their duty to protect humanity. They were fighting a losing battle, until the last few decades. The Magi, along with scientists, had learned how to artificially infuse children with magic from the aetherflow. Created from both magic and science, they are called the Magitech Units or MU (_ _µ). They’ve become the forefront of the battle for the existence of humanity._

* * *

Jack woke up to the cold embrace of a concrete floor, heavy pounding in his head. Sluggishly, he propped his body up and looked around. Concrete. Just concrete walls, concrete ceilings, concrete floors, and two metal doors. He looked down at himself. He was clothed in tatters, visible cuts and bruises scattered across his body. Jack froze in terror as he heard shuffling somewhere in the poorly lit room.

“Oh, you’re awake!” sounded a male voice from behind him.

Jack turned to see a brunette man, clothed in basically nothing but extremely destroyed jeans. He also had numerous bruises and cuts on him, but also had a large mark on his left chest that Jack couldn’t quite make out in the darkness.

“I’m Aaron, what’s your name?”

Jack clutched his still pulsing head. Thankfully the darkness was actually a bit soothing for that.

“Where am I?” 

He could almost hear Aaron shuffle nervously.

“To be quite honest? I don’t really know…”

Jack backed himself up against a wall, resting on it.

“Uh… well, what am I here for?”

This time, he could actually hear Aaron’s fidgeting. 

“W-Well…” he began.

“Fuck!” Jack said as he drew in a sharp breath. A particularly bad headache had hit him in full swing, making him fall forward into his hands.

“You okay?” Aaron asked as he quickly crouched down next to him.

“Y-Yeah,” Jack managed to say. He looked up at the man’s face. Cute, concerned brown eyes met his gaze.

“Hold on, let’s get you some water,” Aaron said as he helped Jack up. He led them towards one of the metal doors. This one opened into a little bathroom, complete with a small barred window that gave a depressing view of a crumbling citadel. Aaron set him down next to the small sink. In the light, Jack could make out more of the man’s features. He was well toned, and didn’t seem malnourished. Upon closer inspection, Jack could make out… bite marks scattered across the man’s body, along with the bruises and cuts.

“Here,” Aaron said as he motioned to the faucet running with a trickle of water. “Dunno if it’s actually safe, but I haven’t died from it yet,” he joked, trying to alleviate some of the awkward tension. Jack brought his hands under the flow and drank greedily. He had no idea how long he was out, but damn he was parched. After, he slowly made his way back into the main room with Aaron. He slumped down against a wall, exhausted.

“So, uh,” Aaron started as he sat down next to Jack, “what do I call you?”

Jack finally realized that he never told him his name.

“Oh, uh, Jack,” he said, a bit embarrassed, “Thanks for helping me.”

“Of course,” Aaron said, smiling, “It’s nice to have someone else here.”

“Right, back to my question from earlier,” Jack said, furrowing his brows. 

“Oh, yeah, uhm, well, we’re here because of a shade,” Aaron began. Jack felt his blood run cold.

“Uh, so this shade, he calls himself Dark. Kind of a lame name if you ask me,” Aaron said, chuckling nervously, “He keeps things he likes here, and well, it looks like he likes me and you.”

“The fuck?” That was all Jack could manage to get out. 

Aaron chuckled nervously again, “Yeah, not exactly uh, comforting I suppose.”

“Are there any other people here?”

“I’m not sure. I think I’ve heard other voices? He hasn’t mentioned anything to me before during our, ahem, encounters… There definitely are other things here though. I can hear the weird shrieks every now and then.”

“What… things?”

“I-I’m not too sure myself, except that I don’t think that I want to know either.”

Jack shuddered.

“How often does he appear?”

“Not too often I suppose? Every week or so. I’ve been kind of keeping track? Gets a bit hard sometimes. Has some lesser shades leave food for me every day though.”

Lesser shade? That meant this shade was a powerful one. Jack shuddered again, this time in terror.

As if on cue, the other metal door swung open harshly with a clang, starling the two. A melancholy woman with long, black hair surrounded by black flickering particles drops a basket of food and leaves promptly.

“Hey uh, at least he doesn’t torture us right?” Aaron said after a small silence, shrugging, trying to reassure Jack.

“You don’t call this torture? What else is it then,” Jack said flatly.

“I-I mean, when you put it that way…” Aaron said sheepishly, looking down at the ground, “I guess I’m just saying it could be worse?”

“... I suppose,” Jack said, looking away.

“W-Well, uh, grab something to eat and get some rest. You look like you could use it.”

Jack simply nodded, now lost in his thoughts.

* * *

Mark shuffled his feet, playing with the dirt beneath him.

“Yes. That’s good, let me relay the information real quick. Hey Mark!” 

Mark turned around to face Amy.

“Position of µ21E is confirmed,” she said as she tapped away at her wristband comm device.

“What about Tyler?” Mark asked nervously.

“Intel says he’s there as well,” Amy said, patting his shoulder, “The info’s good as of last week. We’ll get them back.”

Mark nodded briskly, internally excited to see Tyler and Ethan, but also terrified at what state he’d find them in.

“Alright, we set out tomorrow,” Amy said as she turned her attention back to comms, “µ14A and µ14M confirming mission. Planned departure: 0800 hours. Mission length: approximately one week, including travel time.”

This time, she put the call on speaker. A small crackle came, followed by a voice.

“This is µ headquarters. Mission 0311-RES confirmed. Godspeed.”

With that, the line closed, leaving Mark and Amy to their own devices. Amy turned to Mark again.

“Also, we’re rendezvousing with µ12C, µ11V, and Helion company at the location,” she said as she projected a small holographic map from her comm device, displaying to Mark where they were headed the next day. 

“Wait, two more µ’s _and_ a task squad?” Mark asked, a bit alarmed, “What are we dealing with here?”

“Multiple shades, with what seems to be an overarching shade, in addition to various things they keep as pets,” Amy stated, “Intel also isn’t exactly sure how many human captives there are. There were at least 13, from the caged battles they run for other shades’ entertainment. The humans all died in basically the first match they were in. The µ’s are used repeatedly.”

“Do we know how many µ’s?”

“At least 3. The two that haven’t been seen recently are the other two µ’s aside from Ethan. µ9D and µ22T. It looks like µ units are more interesting to the shades. Can’t blame them. Who wants to watch a one-sided match.”

Mark cringed. He didn’t know why it was so easy for everyone to refer to them as units, including themselves. Sure it was in the name, but they were human too. He had always made sure to learn the names of every µ he met, and try his best to exclusively use their names after. Maybe it was because his mother was one of the researchers, and that he’d always garnered extra attention from the facility researchers and workers due to that. But even then, many at HQ still refer to him by his µ designation.

“Ethan’s matches have been a bit more stalled recently. He’s not doing too well.” 

Mark felt tears well up. Ethan was one of his best friends. He wasn’t a combat µ, but more oriented for utility. His barriers were good, but Mark had no idea how Ethan had managed to survive that long. Hell, he didn’t know if he himself would be able to.

“Also, Tyler hasn’t been seen in the ring. But he’s been spotted every now and then when they bring Ethan back in. Seems like Ethan struck a deal or something.”

“That’s some good news I suppose…”

Amy gave him a sympathetic glance, and rested a hand on his shoulder again. 

“Get some sleep, it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

* * *

It had been a few days, and Jack was staring out the small window while Aaron scribbled at a small sketchpad that Dark had apparently given him to pass the time. He was idly watching the animals, when the atmosphere suddenly changed. The birds took flight, and deer foraging from the area turned tail. Almost out of earshot, Jack heard the sound of pencil scratching paper stop.

“H-He’s here,” Aaron said nervously, sitting up a bit straighter.

The door opened, and stifling energy all but almost toppled Jack. There stood a man, with an odd black and white complexion, as if he popped right out of an olden TV show. He was… handsome to say the least. Jack scrunched his nose in confusion at his own brain calling a shade hot, although they _did_ come from humans.

“Looks like my new plaything’s awake,” a deep, velvety voice said. A small smile had spread across Dark’s face. 

Jack froze, terrified, scowl on his face attempting to compensate and prevent Dark from reading him. He stood his ground as Dark slowly approached. Dark ran the back of his hand across Jack’s jawline, caressing him.

“Quite the beauty,” Dark murmured as he continued. Jack stared murky eyes back with as much wit as he could muster at the moment. Without warning, Dark suddenly encroached Jack’s waist with his arm and pulled him close. Jack drew in a quick breath, surprised by the sudden action.

“Can’t wait to taste you…” Dark whispered into his ear, lightly biting it.

Panicking, Jack did the first thing that came to his mind: pushing his assailant away. It was only after the deed was done when it registered to him what he had just done. Dark glared at him.

“Now, now. That’s no way to treat your master,” he growled. Jack’s breath quickened. Within seconds, Dark had him up against a wall, raised by his throat. The Irishman struggled to breathe, rising panic not helping in the slightest. He clawed uselessly at Dark’s arm.

“Looks like we’re going to have to break it in rough,” Dark’s breath hot on his skin. He reached and tore off Jack’s tattered shirt with his free hand, and bit roughly into his shoulder, making Jack cry out in pain.

“W-Wait! M-Mark, I mean Dark!” sounded Aarons voice from behind them. It sounded so distant in Jack mind.

“H-He’s new! He doesn’t know you yet,” Aaron said pleadingly. Jack was beginning to see dots in his vision, “J-Just uh, take me! I… I uh, want you…?”

After a few seconds, Jack felt air return to his throat as he fell to the floor, gasping.

“I don’t take orders,” he heard Dark say.

“Y-Yes, of course,” Aaron said, cowering in fear now.

After a long silence, Jack watched Dark hoist Aaron up and carry him out of the room. Before he left though, he threw Jack a wry grin, eyes blazing with hunger.

The door slammed shut, leaving Jack on the floor, sinking feeling in his stomach. He felt with his hand where Dark had bit him. There was blood. He stood up to go clean it with water, but froze when he heard a sharp yell from what could only be Aaron. He was pleading Dark to be gentler. Jack’s ears burned with each scream and plea he heard from beyond the door. He quickly crouched down, hands covering his ears, trying to escape. His mind was racing through what Dark was probably doing to Aaron. Jack felt his eyes start watering. Soon, tears were falling. He couldn’t stop it. He didn’t want to be here. He couldn’t. Aaron was facing the consequences for his actions. All he could do was sob into the darkness.

He didn’t know how long he stayed in that position. Hours probably. Jack’s arms didn’t have the strength to hold the position for any longer. Aaron’s screams had turned into quiet sobbing. Jack’s mind had begun to tune it out after a while. He was awoken from his trance by the sound of the door opening. Aaron was tossed haphazardly in, and Jack leapt from his position to catch him, muscles screaming at the sudden strain from movement. Jack could only glare at Dark as he smiled and slowly closed the door, mocking him. Jack looked down at Aaron after Dark had left. The man was in even worse shape than he was before, bloody marks everywhere, pants barely thrown on. He was unconscious, but whimpering. Jack felt tears welling up again, but fought them back as he softly stroked the man’s hair, trying to reassure him. He gathered as much aether as he could, which wasn’t that much, and tried to heal, or at least soothe, Aaron’s wounds. He wasn’t a Magi by any means, but he had some magic potential. He sighed. At least Aaron was still alive. 

* * *

Mark looked at his comm device. 0316-1415. It was the afternoon now. He and Amy had arrived a day earlier at their scheduled rendezvous location. The other two µ’s were almost here, as was Helion company. Amy was setting up a base camp in a hidden den in the forest next to their target. He wondered if Ethan and Tyler were okay.

“Mark!” Amy’s voice sounded, distracting him from his thoughts, “Can you start a tactical analysis?”

He nodded, and began concentrating, divining the location. Slowly, light blue aether started gathering around him, pulsing, and he began the divination. With each pulse, he could sense things in the area, whatever his mind desired at the time. Four lesser shades… multiple monstrosities, including what definitely felt like a wyvern… Shit. He felt a stifling presence near. It had to be the greater shade. He felt clammy, nervous about facing a shade of this magnitude. Humans… That’s what he needed. How many were here? He felt the presence of four, two with weak life forces. One of them was definitely Ethan’s. His heart rate quickened. They got here in time. The other weak life force felt… familiar? He wasn’t sure. Mark quickly transferred his divination aether into his wrist comm, quickly quantifying the information for others, and sent it off.

Mark sat down on a makeshift chair Amy had made, bouncing his leg nervously. Four lesser shades and one greater shade… not to mention all the monstrosities. They only had four µ’s and a mobile task force. Could they actually do it? Amy was strong, one of their best, but the numbers didn’t look terribly good. No, he had to perk up. No use going into battle feeling defeated. Ethan and Tyler needed him, and the other two trapped there.

“I just looked over what you sent. I have µ12C and µ11V and Helion on speaker. Helion, split into two groups of six each, Helion 1 and Helion 2. I’ll lead Helion 1 with µ14M, and µ12C and µ11V, you’ll lead Helion 2. Strike team two will attack from the back of the facility, and draw attention away. Strike team one will push the main entrance as soon as visual confirmation of the enemy is established. Prioritize retrieval of µ21E and the civilians.”

A small chorus of rogers sounded, along with an ETA on both fronts. They were only minutes away. Mark felt his leg bouncing again. This was his first mission of this magnitude. Of course, he had requested it himself, as two of his best friends were in danger, but he wasn’t sure if he was ready.

Mark and Amy sat hunched down in some bushes near the front of the facility, along with Helion 1. Amy had created a small illusory field around them to camouflage them, and Mark was busy masking their life forces from detection. There were some hellhounds guarding the entrance. They were just biding their time now.

“Three lesser shades confirmed visually!” sounded their comms.

“Now!” Amy shouted as she broke the illusory field with a bright burst of light, disorienting the hellhounds. Helion 1 quickly dispatched the hellhounds, and they ran into the facility.

“Three-way split! Helion, establish an escape route! Mark, you take the left wing!” Amy said as she took off. Mark took a deep breath, and headed quickly in the opposite direction.

After a few hallways, Mark ran into a large disused room. 

“There you are!” a voice snarled. Mark whirled around to spot a woman with long black hair, odd black particles sparkling around her on a balcony. She launched a wave of black energy at him, which he managed to block in time.

“You pesky things don’t know what you’re dealing with!” she said, seething. 

Mark simply took a battle stance, and gathered aether at his fingertips, making them burst into flames.

“I don’t know about that,” he huffed as leapt forward and swung at the shade with flaming fists. The shade nimbly dodged him, and laughed. Another wave of dark energy burst forth from her, this time knocking Mark off his feet. Mark quickly recovered by doing a quick somersault to rebalance himself. He quickly called forth aether again, this time gathering a large orb of it, and hurled it at the shade. The shade shrieked as it came into contact with her.

“You…” she snarled, making Mark take a step back. 

Her hair wrapped itself around parts of her that were burned, and slowly extended in length, ends becoming wispy. Mark threw two smaller fire balls at her, which she deflected with the particles around her. Mark felt a sharp pain in his left leg. Looking down, he found that shadowy hair rising from the ground had surrounded his calf. He quickly blasted it away with a burst of aether. More strands of shadowy hair quickly started flying at him from all directions. He quickly added a wind enchantment to himself, dodging all attacks thrown at him. Once again, he gathered aethers around his fists and lunged at the shade. His fists connected with hair that was thrown up around her, but it left a burn mark. The shade seemed to be affected by his fire. Leaping high, Mark cast another wind enchantment to hold him up in the air. Rapidly, he materialized small flame embers and rained them down on the shade. _Good, that’s keeping her busy._ He quickly gathered as much aether as he could around him, and created a large fiery explosion, amplified by a localized tornado around the shade. The shade shrieked, hair tendrils and black particles unable to withstand the damage, and faded into nothingness. Nimbly descending to the floor, Mark wiped his forehead, sweaty from the fight. He looked around, and didn’t see anything else. Quickly, he set up a barrier around himself and started a quick divination. _Someone is near… Ugh, I can’t concentrate enough to make out who it is…_ Mark left the room immediately and headed for the signature.

Upon arrival, he quietly opened the door, aether gathering in one hand in case anything malicious was beyond the door.

* * *

Jack stood in front of Aaron protectively as the door creaked open. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do; he had just used as much aether as he could on Aaron, who was now conscious. Dark’s head poked in, looking directly at them. Or at least Jack thought. The man lowered his fist and opened the door wider. Jack’s eyes widened. It wasn’t Dark. It was the person he had manifested from. The man’s eyes also widened upon illuminating the room with a small aetherial glow.

“A-Aaron?” the man’s voice sounded in a hushed whisper. Jack stood defensively in front of him still.

“Is that you, Mark?” Aaron’s soft raspy voice said from behind him. Jack stared a bit longer, but stood slightly to the side to let the two men talk.

“You’re here?” the man said with a choked sob, “I thought I lost you ages ago!”

Aaron managed a small smile. “I’m still kickin’” he said with a weak chuckle, “Jack, this is Mark, an old friend of mine. Mark, Jack, my roommate as of earlier this week.”

Jack awkwardly extended a hand out, not exactly sure what to do in this situation. Mark took his hand and shook it just as awkwardly. Jack stared into warm chocolate eyes, not knowing what to say.

“Y-You can use magic?” Mark asked quizzically.

“Only a bit,” Jack replied. Mark definitely was of a significantly higher caliber than he was when it came to magic.

“Here, uh, let me share some of my aether,” Mark said. A warm blue light traveled from his arm to Jack’s, and Jack could feel his aether returning rapidly.

“Th-Thanks,” Jack murmured, “Uh, can you fix Aaron up? I don’t think I did much…”

“Yes, yes, oh my god yeah, I’m not great but-” Jack watched as Mark hurriedly crouched next to Aaron and mended some lesser wounds, and lessened other more severe ones. After a bit, Aaron and Mark embraced.

“God, it’s so good to see you,” Aaron said with tears in his eyes, “The real you…”

“What do you mean?” Mark asked.

Before Aaron could reply, Mark’s comm device crackled to life.

“The greater shade’s doing something!” sounded the voice of µ11V, “FUCK! µ12C’s down! Wait, the shades going back towards the facility!”

“I have µ21E and the civilian with him! I detect the shade!” sounded Amy, “Mark! He’s headed your way!”

Jack felt his face turn white. He quickly looked at Aaron, who could now stand, and an extremely panicked Mark.

“Let’s go!” Jack shouted, prompting Mark into action. He felt Mark quickly enchant them to make them more light on their feet, and the man motioned for the two to follow. Jack held an arm around Aaron, stabilizing him and also signaling to Mark that he had Aaron. 

“You’re the soldier here,” Jack quickly said, “You’re the only one that actually stands a chance if Dark shows up.”

“His name’s… Dark?” Mark asked, confused, during a brief pause, “That’s a uhm, terribly edgy name.”

Jack just huffed a laugh as they continued. They reached an arena, and were stopped dead in their tracks. There in the center, stood Dark.

* * *

Mark skidded to a halt in what he presumed to be the arena ring. There stood the shade in the center, kneeling, black waves rolling off of it. _Fuckfuckfuck._ He had not anticipated running into the greater shade alone.

“Strike team two is still locked under two lesser shades and various abominations!” sounded µ11V’s voice.

“Mark I’m on my way!” sounded Amy on the comms.

Mark’s heart was pounding. He assumed a battle stance, and set his fists aflame.

“Looks like you have some things that belong to me,” an eerily familiar voice resonated from the shade. 

Mark froze. The shade slowly stood. Mark could only stare in horror as a black and white version of his face stared back at him.

“Deja vu?” Dark said mockingly.

Mark’s brain had a crash and reboot, and he had to quickly try and force it into battle mode. His breath was too fast, his heart racing, palms getting sweaty. _Whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck?_ He clumsily lobbed a ball of flame towards Dark. The fire simply disintegrated a few inches in front of Dark, black aura decaying it to nothing. Dark laughed and fire a bolt of dark energy towards him, forcing Mark to throw up a barrier as fast as he could. It wasn’t fast enough, and part of the bolt connected, knocking Mark to the floor. He scrambled to get back up, but saw Dark preparing another attack. _Fuckfuckfuck._

“Didn’t know the person I was based off of was so weak,” Dark said, laughing in disbelief.

Just as Mark thought it would be his end, a bolt of light struck Dark’s side. It didn’t scathe him at all, but did redirect his attention. Following Dark’s gaze, he saw Jack preparing another small bolt of light. The next bolt also didn’t connect, simply degrading around Dark as all previous attacks had, but Jack now had Dark’s full attention. The soldier part of him slapped his stupefied self back into action, and before Dark could do anything to Jack and Aaron, he leapt at Dark, fists flaming again. This time, his attack connected. Looks like he had to fight Dark up close, which definitely wasn’t safe. Dark hissed at the contact, but was otherwise unharmed. Mark could feel sweat drip from his forehead. In an instant, he was slammed into the ground, Dark’s hand around his throat.

“Cute, but useless,” the shade growled hotly into Mark’s ear, waves of dark energy crushing the rest of him. Just then, a massive blast of aether stuck Dark’s back, actually making him hiss in pain. Mark quickly scrambled away, quickly healing the bruises that were for sure forming on his neck. Looking up, he saw Amy descending from a hole in the ceiling. She deftly set foot on the arena floor, with Dark glaring at her as he jumped backwards away from her. Ethan and Tyler had been set down gently by wind next to Jack and Aaron, and with a wave of her arm, a powerful barrier enclosed the four men. Amy’s cloak fluttered gently in the artificial wind as she stared down Dark. Mark looked back at Dark, whose back was scorched now with aetherial marks. The wounds were healing, though not fast.

“Mark, deploy an aether field,” Amy commanded. He quickly did so, regenerating his and Amy’s aether reserves.

“Add a second barrier to the civilians too,” Amy quickly said as she created an inversion field around Dark, disrupting his foothold and flipping him into the air. Mark did as he was told, and quickly relocated next to Jack and them. There wasn’t much else he could do. Amy was in full battle mode now. She vastly outpowered him when using her full strength, and he would only get in her way. Instead, he focused on enchantments to layer on Amy. He didn’t really know if it helped that much, but hey, it was better than nothing.

Amy aimed another blast of pure aether at Dark, who managed to block it in time. The two were head to head in combat, with Mark occasionally peppering in a spell or two. Blow after blow were thrown, and spell after spell were cast. Mark eventually erected a barrier around himself, switching to divination, trying to find some sort of weakness in Dark that they could exploit. Dark suddenly switched his assault to Mark, catching Amy off guard. 

“Amy now!” Mark shouted, realizing that she could probably blast Dark out of existence, at the cost of maybe his own life. 

Amy immediately let loose a tremendous burst of light that obliterated a hole through the facility walls. He felt Dark’s bolt of dark energy shatter his barrier, sending him flying. Amy descended from the air, and ran to Mark, quickly switching to healing aether.

“Are you okay?” 

Mark coughed, wiping dust from his face and nodded.

“Thank god this is over with,” Amy said as she tended to his wounds.

Mark shook his head. Words not coming to his mouth just yet. It _was_ a particularly hard blow.

“What?” Amy inquired.

“I-I was divining,” Mark said with another cough, “H-He teleported.”

“Teleported?” Amy asked, surprised, “Are you sure? That’s incredibly high level magic, and from our fight, I don’t think he’s there, since neither am I.”

“N-No, it wasn’t him,” he said, “At least the aether mark didn’t match his. I think it was a trinket, unless an even stronger shade saved him?”

Amy stood back, finished administering first aid to him.

“Well, that’s not good,” she said with a sigh, “A shade of that caliber needs to be eliminated as soon as possible.”

Their comms crackled to life.

“11V here. We just finished up outside. Is everything okay inside?”

“Yes, operation was a success, mostly,” Amy replied, “The greater shade escaped.”

“That’s… not good,” µ11V said.

“Both me and µ14M are largely unharmed though, and the civilians are all safe,” Amy said, “Is µ12C okay?”

“... No. We lost him,” µ11V replied.

“Shit…”

Mark stared blankly. The job was dangerous, and they all knew the risks, but he had never actually had anyone die in a mission with him before.

“What about Helion 2?”

“I switched to defensive as soon as 12C went down. Helion 2 is all accounted for.”

“Helion 1?”

“Helion 1 is all accounted for. We’re waiting at the entrance.”

Amy sighed in relief. 

“Come on, let’s go,” she said, dispelling the barrier that held the four civillians.

Mark stood up, a bit numb, and followed after her, Jack and co. in tow.

* * *

Dark blinked. Was he dead? He looked around. He was in a cozy little house. He recognized this house.

“Oi, Dark, whatcha doing here?” piped a familiar voice behind him.

He turned, facing Anti.

“I, uh, I’m not sure,” Dark said, confused. He hissed as a piercing pain in his right earlobe finally registered with him. His hand shot up to heal it.

“Ohhh, looks like my charm worked,” Anti said with a devilish smile.

“What do you mean?” Dark asked, still nursing his ear.

“Your earrings. They’re the ones I gave you aren’t they?” the other shade asked.

“Y-Yeah…” Dark said sheepishly.

“Awww how cute,” Anti chirped, “I enchanted them so that if you’re ever in mortal danger, it’d teleport you to me. Those are hard to make, don’t go about using them willy nilly.”

“You think I can’t handle myself?” Dark said, feeling anger rise in his chest.

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Anti said with a shit-eating grin. Ouch, that was a blow to his ego.

“... I guess…” Dark said, deflating a bit.

“Awww, don’t be sad! It’s just a failsafe in case something happened to you!” Anti said, placing a quick peck of a kiss on Dark’s cheek.

“So… did you find him?” Anti asked, round puppy eyes looking up at Dark.

“Yes. Actually, even better, I found both,” Dark said, smile returning to his face.

“Oh? How were they?”

“Well, I was going to play with yours for a bit, but they found me before I could do much. Also, this got fucking foiled because of another captive I had for the arena. Can’t fucking believe it!”

Anti giggled. “Heehee that’s actually really funny,” he said, laughter in his eyes.

Dark just sighed and continued.

“The other, mine, actually was in the rescue mission. Honestly? Disappointing. He wasn’t a challenge at all.”

“Then what brought you here?”

“...µ14A showed up as well.”

“Whoa. They brought out the big guns?”

“...Yes…”

Anti assumed a cheesy thinking position.

“Hmmm… well, that’s unfortunate. Can’t believe our copies are allies with µ14A.”

“...Yes…”

Anti smiled, not the least bit deterred.

“Remember, there can only be one,” Anti said with a giggle and sat down on his couch, toying with the life forces he had left on the table.

Dark shuddered. He loved Anti, but that man was unnerving to say the least.

**Author's Note:**

> Lmao I know I have another fic, but being on my antidepressants really suppresses my creative drive. I can actually draw or write when I'm off of them, but that ain't good lol. Don't stop taking ur meds unless you know what ur doing. These random bursts of creativity mainly come from me running out and forgetting to refill my meds, and then doing it a day or two later. Dont stop ur drugs, kids
> 
> Hope this longer first chapter of this fic makes a bit up for lack of posting haha Other than that, cheers :P


End file.
